Three finalists have been named for the presidency of Our Lady of Holy Cross College. The committee conducting the search has said it hopes to have a chief executive in place by July.

Times-Picayune archiveOur Lady of Holy Cross College

The candidates to succeed the Rev. Anthony DeConciliis are:

James Dlugos, vice president and dean of academic affairs at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J.

Ronald Ambrosetti, provost and dean of the college at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y.

John Marsden, provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of gerontology at Barton College in Wilson, N.C.

Myles Seghers, the Catholic liberal-arts college's interim president, said there were 37 applicants for the position, which became vacant when DeConciliis was fired last August after leading the Algiers college for six years.

The college's 19 trustees also were dismissed then.

No one was given a reason for the dismissals. Sister Suellen Tennyson, who took that action, has declined to discuss it.

The way in which DeConciliis and the trustees were ousted was one of four reasons why Our Lady of Holy Cross has been put on probation by the private accrediting organization that certifies the quality of academic institutions in 11 states, including Louisiana.

Probation was imposed in December and will last for six months, a period in which the college must address issues that the agency cited.

Accreditation is vital. Losing it could threaten a school's ability to receive federal money, and it might make other schools or prospective employers question the quality of an applicant's work, even if the loss of accreditation had nothing to do with academics.